Music Film Transcends Borders
The Music of Strangers: Yo-YO Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble (96 min.), from the creators of the Oscar-winning documentary 20 Feet from Stardom, is being co-presented by World Community and the Immigrant Welcome Centre at 7 pm on Tuesday, March 21 at the Stan Hagen Theatre, North Island College, Courtenay.
Over the past 16 years, an extraordinary group of musicians has come together to celebrate the universal power of music. Named for the ancient trade route linking Asia, Africa and Europe, The Silk Road Ensemble, an international collective created by acclaimed cellist Yo-Yo Ma, exemplifies music’s ability to blur geographical boundaries, blend disparate cultures and inspire hope for both artists and audiences.
The film follows an ever-changing lineup of performers drawn from the ensemble’s more than 50 instrumentalists, vocalists, composers, arrangers, visual artists and storytellers as they gather in locations across the world, exploring the ways art can both preserve traditions and shape cultural evolution.
The Wall Street Journal calls this film “A Joyous Revelation– a group portrait of superb musicians from all over the world offering music as an emblem of what people can do in these fractious times when they live in concert with one another.”